From: Mike 
Newsgroups: uk.legal uk.politics.misc uk.finance
Subject: Re: Why I am voting for Europe.
Date: Fri, 11 Jun 2004 00:53:43 +0100

In message <2is2vnFqi6jnU1@uni-berlin.de>, half_pint 
 writes
>>
>> I've just looked on the Easyjet site (www.go-fly.com) and I could do
>> Stansted-Munich this weekend for about £120 return.  They don't fly to
>> Munich from Newcastle upon Tyne but you could do Berlin (out Sat. return
>> Mon.) for about £55.  It all depends when you go and which airline you
>> use.  By flying you have a much greater choice of destinations too.
>>
>
>Just had a quick look at that site I could go out to
>cologne (say) on thursday for £22.50 and return the next
>day for  £12.99 so £34.50 in total. Unfortunately
>that means an overnight stop as flightson the same
>day would give me just 20 minutes to change plane.
>( Departing from East mildands airport).
>
Check out hotel prices.  IME they're cheaper in other European countries 
than in the UK.  The savings you make on beer and fags will more than 
cover the cost of a weekend abroad.  Try looking at -

http://www.a-hotels-website.co.uk/

There are hotels in Köln (Cologne) for 50 Euro per night.

>Still it is pretty cheap but there were no flights  to belgium
>I could see and I think germany is more expensive.
>Still I think I will have a play around on that site and
>similar ones to see  what deals I can get.
>
Germany is more expensive for fags than some other countries and you 
only get 19 in a packet.  Baccy tends to come in 40g pouches too.  OTOH 
this is definitely Bier Garden whether :)

>Also I am unsure if the price is inclusive of taxes etc.
>It would be ideal if I could depart in the morning and return
>in the evening on the same day, much better than a long coach journey.
>
>
>Its certaintly worth some investigatioin with prices like £12.99
>for a several hundred mile trip.

Definitely.

> I wounder how far I would get in a car
>with that much worth of petrol,

Several hundred miles if it were £12.99 worth of *petrol* (without the 
tax).

[snip]
>>
>> >I would rather two lots of baccy.
>>
>> You can bring in as much as you want provided it's for personal use. You
>> do need to be able to justify that though.
>
>And how does one do that?
>
Reasoned argument.  Customs officers aren't stupid and they have a 
pretty good idea when someone is "taking the piss".  6kg is a lot of 
baccy but if you're only going over once a year (customs can check that) 
it's probably reasonable.  Having several different brands would lessen 
your chances of claiming that it was for personal use.

>> >
>> It's really what I can prove (on Balance of Probabilities) in court that
>> counts.
>
>In the meantime you are several hundred pounds out of pocket.
>
Ultimately, I believe, you can claim all your losses.  The Courts don't 
look kindly on HMC&E abusing their powers.

>>
>> >> - all the "imports" are
>> >> for personal use.  I don't know what the black market price of fags &
>> >> baccy is but I doubt, with the above amounts, it would be cost
>effective
>> >> for me to sell it on.
>> >
>> >I get backy for £4.50 for 500grammes. thats about £1.30 profit a pack?
>> >
>> So it wouldn't be cost effective for me to sell it then.  I could get it
>> cheaper from other countries or I could cut my costs by just going over
>> to Nederland and coming straight back without even leaving the ferry (I
>> can buy the baccy onboard).  Even then, the profit 3kg of baccy wouldn't
>> cover costs.  Presuming the profit on fags was similar I suppose it's
>> possible to make a nett small profit but it isn't really worth it.
>
>Unless you are bringing an articulated lorry over packed with the stuff.

That's an example of an unreasonable amount.  It's the grey area 
(between 3kg and 40 tonnes) that's open to argument.
-- 
Mike